Occupy Anchorage Is Hanging in There

After a talk with one of my friends at firedoglake this afternoon, I visited the Occupy Anchorage encampment this (Saturday) evening. All I can say after visiting it is that two tents and some signs are there. It was almost 11:00 pm, so I didn’t find any occupiers present. The signs indicate upcoming events.

The setting for Occupy Anchorage is very central. It is located right next to the Anchorage Center for the Performing Arts, in what is known as Town Square Park. Right now, there is an ice skating rink and a series of ice sculptures in-the-making, within 20 feet of the Occupy Anchorage space. Here’s one of the ice sculptures. It is located right where Occupy Anchorage had tables with free food, educational material and warm items back in September and October. [cont’d.]

I’m going to volunteer to help this group out more through the rest of the winter. More on that soon. (My August-December work schedule kept me from being able to get involved with this movement as much as I would have liked, but that has changed.)

This winter is turning out to be one of the most severe in 25 years. There have been storms, heavy precipitation and extreme cold. As I left the Town Square and Occupy Anchorage encampment area, it was snowing hard – about an inch per hour.

To get an idea about how much snow some parts of Alaska are getting this winter, here’s a recent photo my friend Heather Aronno put up on facebook, showing the Richardson Highway outside of Valdez. It isn’t very far above sea level.

Occupy Anchorage Is Hanging in There

After a talk with one of my friends at firedoglake this afternoon, I visited the Occupy Anchorage encampment this (Saturday) evening. All I can say after visiting it is that two tents and some signs are there. It was almost 11:00 pm, so I didn’t find any occupiers present. The signs indicate upcoming events.

The setting for Occupy Anchorage is very central. It is located right next to the Anchorage Center for the Performing Arts, in what is known as Town Square Park. Right now, there is an ice skating rink and a series of ice sculptures in-the-making, within 20 feet of the Occupy Anchorage space. Here’s one of the ice sculptures. It is located right where Occupy Anchorage had tables with free food, educational material and warm items back in September and October. (more…)